Dallas Cowboys OTA's Brings More Than Just Lame Practices

By Ben Grimaldi

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys are about to begin organized team activities, or OTA’s, today and there are plenty of things to look forward too. I know there isn’t real football going on and it doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot in terms of game action but OTA’s are not all boring.

These practices and activities will give fans the opportunity to get a report on how players are progressing from last year and to check on injured players who are coming back to action. Hopefully its all good news and it will give a glimpse of what the Cowboys will look like. Injuries were a big part of the story for the Cowboys in 2012 and hearing about Sean Lee and Barry Church being back on the field will be a nice boost for Cowboys fans.

OTA’s also gives the fans a chance to finally hear from players again, notably Tony Romo. Romo has been very quiet this offseason and I’m sure there are plenty of Cowboys fans who want to hear about his role with the team. He’s got the shiny new contract and supposedly all this new responsibility and it’ll be nice to hear from him on the direction of the team.

The next three weeks of team activities also does something very important for fans; it gives them hope. The Cowboys fans, particularly Jerry Jones, are usually a very optimistic group and hearing about how good a player looks during OTA’s only fuels the fire. The obvious thing to remember is that a player is supposed to look great during these practices and if you read something negative about him it’s probably a bad sign. OTA’s are designed as a learning experience and as a place for players to shine.

Maybe the best thing we get from OTA’s though is a sense that football is back. Don’t look now but NFL training camps will open in just over two months and the next three weeks of practice will help time continue to move.

The Dallas Cowboys are coming together for three weeks of team activities and even though it sounds boring, there are plenty of things to give us our football fix.

Ben is a Cowboys writer for Rantsports.com and you can chat with or follow him on twitter @BenGrimaldi. You can also “Like” his page on Facebook.